Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
USC Gynecologist Still Wasn't Fired After Experts Told School He May Be Preying On Asian Students And Showing Signs Of 'Psychopathy'
After decades of complaints about a campus gynecologist, USC administrators hired a team of medical experts to evaluate him. The experts came back with a disturbing report saying there was evidence Dr. George Tyndall was preying on vulnerable Asian students and had signs of 鈥減sychopathy.鈥 Still, the university did not fire Tyndall or notify the state medical board. (Hamilton and Ryan, 5/23)
Ohio State University and the state board that regulates physicians are trying a new strategy in hopes of being able to make more information public from the board's old investigation involving a team doctor who sexually abused students for two decades. Details about the mid-1990s State Medical Board investigation involving the late Dr. Richard Strauss have remained confidential under state law, but that might change if the parties involved waive their confidentiality. (Franko, 5/23)
The University of Maryland will have medical staff tending to the school's sports teams employed outside of the athletics department. This would include the head team physician, athletic trainers, nutritionists and mental health practitioners. The directive, announced Thursday, fulfills recommendations from an external safety review following the death last year of Maryland offensive lineman Jordan McNair, who collapsed during practice and subsequently died of heatstroke. (5/23)
The acting chief executive of the University of Maryland Medical System is pledging 鈥渟ignificant changes鈥 to senior staff after a scandal involving financial arrangements. The Baltimore Sun reports system CEO John W. Ashworth III met with Gov. Larry Hogan and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones on Thursday. Ashworth III said the hospital network needs to undergo a 鈥渃ultural shift鈥 away from an environment in which board members won contracts for their private companies. (5/23)
Authorities have charged a Department of Veterans Affairs employee with secretly recording women in bathroom stalls in an office in downtown Washington, according to court documents filed in the case. Alex Greenlee, 24, of Alexandria, was charged with four misdemeanor counts of voyeurism. A D.C. Superior Court judge freed him Wednesday, pending a hearing June 25. (Hermann, 5/23)
Staff at a psychiatric hospital in San Leandro were punched, slapped, spit on and kicked 鈥 mostly by patients 鈥 in at least 80 separate instances over the last year, according to records kept by the agency that operates the facility. ...The union representing workers at John George Psychiatric Hospital has for years called for safer workplace conditions and more staffing, and is now pointing to the new data to cast light on the dangers of the job. (Goldberg, 5/23)